Watch The Med Alarm Phone Investigations – 31st of May 2021

Case name: 2021_05_31-CM451

Situation: 87 travelers (9 children, 11 women, 67 men) in distress off Al Khums, Libya. Missleading information from Libyan authorities and 16 fatalaties. The survivors were saved by a fisherman after non-assistance of authorities.

Status of WTM Investigation: Concluded

Place of Incident: Central Mediterranean Sea

Summary of the case:

On the 31st of May 2021 at 11h38 CEST, the Alarm Phone was informed about a boat in distress carrying 87 travelers, among them 9 children, 11 women and 67 men. Our shift team received the alert via a fisherman who had met the travelers at sea. He himself had tried calling the so-called Libyan coast guard 6 times, but in vain. He did not know their GPS location, but could tell that the place he had met them was 48km off Al Khums, Libya. He reported that the tubes had been deflating, water was entering the boat, and six people had fallen into the water and died. The travelers had reported to the fisherman that some of them escaped Libya after having been put into jail up to four times. According to the fisherman, they had departed from Zliten, Libya around 23h00 CEST that night. He could pass us their Thuraya number, but we could not get through to the people.

At 11h59 CEST, our shift team sent an e-mail to the Libyan authorities, passing on all the information, and we emphazised that the travelers were urgently asking for rescue. At 12h06 CEST, we reached the so-called Libyan coast guard on the phone, they had not taken notice of our e-mail yet and did not confirm to launch a Search and Rescue operation. When we called the Spanish Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) in Madrid, they said they would check on the case.

At 12h26 CEST, we received an e-mail from the Libyan authorities, stating that "the rescue operation was successful."

At 13h30 CEST, the fisherman sent us a GPS location close to the boat in distress from the time when he had been in their vicinity. We forwarded it to the Libyan authorities aksing them if the rescue had taken place close to that position.

At 15h01 CEST, the fisherman informed us that he had just been called by the people in distress. They were still at sea and their tubes had deflated completely, the boat was sinking and most of the people were in the water. We informed that Libyan authorities about this via e-mail, we could not reach them on the phone.

At 15h54 CEST, the fisherman informed us that another fisherman had saved the travelers from the water and taken onto his boat, but 16 of the people were said to have died.

Twitter chronology:

31.05.2021 @17h17 CEST:

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1399384669716717569

https://twitter.com/alarm_phone/status/1399384670945558534